We would like to thank all Fellows who attended last week's ABF Fellows events in conjunction with the 2021 ABA Virtual Midyear Meeting. If you missed the Awards Banquet or Fellows CLE, not to worry--you can find them spotlighted below! You will also find an invitation to an exciting and informative upcoming National event. This issue also contains Fellows and Faculty news and a Fellow Spotlight. |
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ABF Researchers in the News |
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Former William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law and Dean of the Boston University School of Law Angela Onwuachi-Willig has been named the inaugural Ryan Roth Gallo and Ernest J. Gallo Professor by Boston University.
The professorship is the first in the country to support a faculty member whose research focuses on critical race theory. Dean Onwuachi-Willig is a renowned scholar and expert in critical race theory. Her antiracism work includes research on cultural trauma as experienced by African Americans in relation to acquittals and lack of indictments in cases of police killings of Black individuals.
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ABF Faculty Fellow Rebecca Sandefur and District of Columbia Sustaining Life Fellow James J. Sandman recently participated in an American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) panel titled "Measuring Justice for All." The event discussed "Measuring Civil Justice for All: What do we know? What do we need to know? How can we know it?," a new Academy whitepaper that provides a blueprint for the collection of data about civil justice activity in the United States.
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C. Elisia Frazier, Life Fellow and Managing Deputy City Attorney for the City of Atlanta, has received the Father Robert F. Drinan Award from the American Bar Association Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. Ms. Frazier accepted the award at a virtual reception on February 19, 2021 during the ABA Midyear Meeting.
Ms. Frazier previously owned her own law firm, was the former in-house counsel for three Fortune 500 companies, and serviced individual clients, small legal departments, small businesses, and local governments.
The Father Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service honors those who have strengthened the Section’s mission to provide leadership to the legal profession.
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Dr. Artika Tyner, Fellow, Discusses School-to-Prison Pipeline for Comcast's Social Justice Series
Dr. Artika Tyner, Fellow and President & CEO of Planting People Growing Justice LLC, was recently a featured speaker on Comcast/NBC Universal's Social Justice Series. The episode, titled "Breaking Schools' Rules: School-to-Prison Pipeline, Explained," examined the process by which school disciplinary practices replicate incarceration and cast criminality onto Black children, oftentimes pushing them into the carceral system from a young age.
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Colonel James M. Durant III, Colorado Life Fellow, Calls for Amendments to Aid in Prosecuting Police in DePaul Journal of Social Justice
Colonel James M. Durant III, Colorado Life Fellow and Chief Counsel for the Office of Science within the US Department of Energy, has published an article titled "An Accountability Cometh: Amend 42 USC Section 1983 and 18 USC Sections 241, 242, Thereby Initiating a Path to Re-Imaging Peace Officers Acting Under the Color of State Law" in the DePaul Journal of Social Justice. In the article, Col. Durant calls for several amendments to the law which would assist American citizens and attorneys in cases against systemic and habitual police abuse and against rogue police officers.
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Clockwise from top left: Outstanding Service Award winner Steven A. Saltzburg; Outstanding Scholar Award winner Laura E. Gómez; Outstanding State Chair Award winner Frank X. Neuner, Jr. (not pictured: Co-Chair Elwood F. Cahill, Jr.); and Distinguished Life Fellow Award winner James J. Sandman.
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On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, the ABF Fellows 65th Annual Awards Banquet took place in conjunction with the 2021 Virtual ABA Midyear Meeting. The program featured the 2021 ABF Fellows Award Honorees, seen above, as well as a keynote address, “When Should Law Forgive,” by Harvard University School of Law 300th Anniversary Professor Martha Minow. All 2021 Fellows Officers were present to introduce and congratulate the awardees.
For a video recording of the event click here. To view the digital program book, click here.
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Fellows Event Spotlight
Fellows CLE Research Seminar
in Conjunction with the 2021 ABA Virtual Midyear Meeting
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Clockwise from top left: Moderator Hon. Bernice Donald; Panelists Janice Nadler, Mary D. Fan, and Sandra Guerra Thompson. |
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On Friday, February 19, 2021, the American Bar Foundation hosted an ABF Fellows CLE in conjunction with the 2021 Virtual ABA Midyear Meeting. The panelists, seen above, discussed the relationship between gruesome photographs, conviction rates, and race in the courtroom. The seminar also featured the results of two experiments on the topic conducted by ABF Research Professor and panelist Janice Nadler.
For a video recording of the event click here.
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Register now
“Bridging the Gap: Race and Gender in the American Legal Profession"
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In the American legal profession, women--especially women of color--have historically been underrepresented in the growing ranks of leaders. From equity partnerships to the legal academy, this disproportion results in race and gender barriers, biases, and additional challenges.
Join us virtually on Tuesday, March 23 at 10AM PST/12PM CT/1PM EST for a panel discussion about the personal and professional experiences of women in the profession.
Featuring:
Chair, ABA Senior Lawyers Division Women Trailblazers Project Committee; Former Chair of the Board of Directors, National Women’s Law Center
2020-21 William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law, American Bar Foundation; Director of the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE), Indiana University
Principal Consultant, The Red Bee Group LLC; Author, "Left Out and Left Behind: The Hurdles, Hassles, and Heartaches of Achieving Long-Term Legal
Careers for Women of Color"
For registration click here.
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Fellow Spotlight
Benjamin E. Griffith is Principal of Griffith Law Firm in Oxford, MS. He became a Fellow in August 2009.
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Benjamin E. Griffith
Mississippi Patron Fellow
Q: What does being a Fellow mean to you?
A: As a Patron Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, I take pride in the ABF’s mission to support scholarship and cutting-edge research—worthwhile endeavors that materially advance justice and understanding of the rule of law and make our legal institutions more resilient. It is a signal honor to be recommended by one’s peers to be part of a global honorary society of lawyers and judges based on excellence in the legal profession. These are indeed the long-haulers, the ones who consistently represent the best values of our profession.
Q: Where were you born and raised?
A: Cleveland, MS, a Mississippi Delta college town where I was the second of five children, three of them lawyers. Daddy was an attorney in a firm that focused on civil litigation and Momma with his help did a wonderful job raising us, returning to teach in high school as four of us went off to college and the caboose in our litter neared his teenage years.
Q: Why did you decide to pursue a career in law and academia?
A: I was drawn to state and local government law in my early years, learning core skills from lawyers in the firm who represented school boards, municipalities, county boards and other public sector clients. Through contacts and leadership positions in several organizations of municipal and county attorneys, including IMLA, DRI and the ABA, I was fortunate to become involved early in my practice in Voting Rights Act litigation and defense work in other states. My insurance defense practice grew to provide a balanced law practice in which I enjoyed not only the work but the colleagues and friends with whom I associated throughout the mid-south. As a natural outgrowth of my private practice, I am an adjunct professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law and enjoy teaching election law to the next generation of leaders. This is in addition to being somewhat hyperactive in publications and continuing legal education within my area of expertise. Both my practice and my career in academia have been enhanced by my work with the ABA, which has included serving on the Board of Governors and the House of Delegates, chairing the Section of State & Local Government Law, chairing the ABA Standing Committee on Election Law and working with many other worthwhile entities from CEELI and ROLI to the Cybersecurity Legal Task Force.
Q: If you hadn’t pursued a career in law and academia, what would you have done?
A: There are two possibilities. I could have become a preacher or a language instructor. Moderating a session meeting in a Presbyterian Church is not that different from mediating a major civil dispute involving complex claims. With an undergraduate major in English and German I could have easily found myself in a Munich gymnasium teaching basic English to German high school students.
Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: I enjoy traveling and over the decades have sampled the cultures, languages, history and customs of scores of countries throughout the world. I hope to continue that learning process with my wife as we enter the Autumn of our married life.
Q: Anything else you'd like to share with us?
A: The ABF provides a meaningful platform for lawyers to fulfill their oath to serve the marginalized and secure real justice for those who are pushed to the outskirts of our communities. Just as my government clients over the years helped introduce me to Section 2 vote dilution cases, redistricting litigation, administrative law, and defense of governmental entities in §1983 litigation, it is my hope that active involvement with the ABF will continue to grow and lead me to a greater level of service to others within and beyond the legal profession.
Read more Fellow Spotlights here.
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Support the ABF
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The American Bar Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) organization. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in publications or presentations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Bar Foundation, nor the policy positions of the American Bar Association or its affiliates. The AMERICAN BAR FOUNDATION, ABF and related seal trademarks as used by the American Bar Foundation are owned by the American Bar Association and used under license.
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